A Study on the Impact of Rural Tourism on the Economic Sustainable Development of Host Communities

1 2 P Ms.DivyaP George,P MS.P Misheal Tomy, 1 P P.GP Scholar, Research & P.G Department of Commerce, Marian College Kuttikkanam (Autonomous)-

6865531, Kerala mail: [email protected] U31T 2 P ResearchP Guide, Research & P.G Department of Commerce, Marian College Kuttikkanam (Autonomous)-

6865531, Kerala, E mail: [email protected] U31T

ABSTRACT

Over the past decade, many rural communities have been encouraged to incorporate tourism in their sustainable development strategies. The important goal of sustainable development is to achieve a harmony between environment, economic and socio- political sustainability. Assessing the economic quality of tourism and recreation areas is considered fundamental to the sustainable management This study was conducted with the objective to assess the impact of rural tourism on the economic sustainability of host communities and examine the perception of host communities towards sustainable tourism. Primary data were collected from respondents belonging to rural areas like Vagamon, Ilikal kallu, Kallar, Gavi, Parunthumpara, Kuttanad etc. The study resulted that Employment opportunities, increased demands for local products, handicrafts and agricultural products and improvement in household income are the major contributions of rural tourism to the economic sustainability of host communities. The findings suggest that rural tourism is a viable means of achieving sustainable development of rural communities.

Keywords: Rural Tourism, Sustainable Development, Host Communities, Economic Sustainability, SDGs.

1. Introduction

One of the vital functions of current society is sustainable development. Tourism plays an important role in achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by UN. Role of tourism in reaching the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be essentially reinforced when sustainable improvement turns into a shared duty and moves to the core of decision-making inside the tourism segment. Tourism is one of the driving and top growing businesses within the world. Tourism is one of the principle contributors to the GDP rate of economy. According to Tourism Council 9.2% of India’s GDP is made up of tourism. The Competitiveness Report 2019 published by the World Economic Forum declared that India was ranked 34th in the Travel & Tourism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_India). Now rural tourism plays an important role in sustainable development of nation. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were originated at the United Nations Conference. The purpose of sustainable development goals was to produce a set of universal objectives that would help combat the crucial environmental, political and economic challenges facing our world.

Rural tourism can be extensively defined as tourism which takes place in rustic areas. Tourism gets to be progressively vital to communities around the world, Tourism is considered as one of the motives for economic progress, sustainable and regional development; hence the sustainable developments of the host communities also become primary concern. The rural tourism provides employment opportunities for women, youth and others in host community. Sustainable development in tourism incorporates the community as a foundation of the development process.

The author (Katoch, 2016) in his article analyzed different dimensions of the effect of rural tourism with special reference with few or some local communities in Himachal Pradesh. The result showed that the success of the rural tourism will depend on how much social and economic benefits are transferred to the regional community and how much they are involved in management and organization of rural tourism. Demographic consistency, public usage and socio-economic benefits was the major composite index considered by (Ibănescu, 24

IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 8 Issue 3, March 2021 ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2020) – 6.72 www.ijiset.com Stoleriu, Munteanu, & Iatu, 2018) for a research on the effect of rural tourism on the sustainable development of host community. The results indicate that there's a positive effect of tourism on rural regions translated into the higher utility of all the indexes analyzed. A study made by (Choi, 2013) to evaluate the role of tourism and local citizens’ bolster for tourism improvement in a rural tourism destination in the Gangwon province, South Korea named Jeongseon. The findings show that the economic effects of tourism have been more favorably perceived by means of the local people who too saw benefits in socio-cultural terms.

The study conducted by (Fun, Chiun, Songan, & Nair, 2014) examine the relationship between local communities’ association, relationship standard and economic rural tourism with self efficacy as mediator within the setting of tourism industry in Sarawak. The findings of this study exhibit preliminary conceptual framework on local communities ‘association, relationship standard and economic rural tourism and how self efficacy moderate the relationship between local communities ‘association, relationship standard and economic rural tourism in Sarawak. (Juma & Vidra, 2019) made a study in Kenya on how the rural regions of Kenya is affected in the aims of its social, economic, physical sustainability by the contributions of Community-Based Tourism (CBT), and the study resulted that a positive perception towards community based tourism act as a supporting factor that promote the physical, economical, and social sustainability of the rural regions in Kenya. A Paper was prepared by (Munhurrun & Perunjodi Naidoo, 2012) that focused on the residents’ attitudes toward tourism development in Mauritius. The results revealed that the majority of residents are encouraging tourism development in the region. The study identified that future tourism growth is positively supported by its socio-cultural and economic impacts while environmental impacts had a negative influence on future tourism growth.

The review of literature reveals that many studies are conducted in this topic on international and national basis but not on state however it is found that there is dearth of studies in this area. The present study is intended to fill the gap in the literature.

2. Statement of the Problem

In this era sustainable development plays a major role in the development of our world, so UN adopted 17 sustainable development goals. The important goal of sustainable development is to achieve a harmony between environment sustainability, economic sustainability and socio-political sustainability. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is “Transforming Our World:” Now a day rural tourism also take plays an important role in transforming our world. Especially India promotes rural tourism for the economic, social and cultural development of our nation. Rural tourism greatly promotes and contributes to the economy and the development. But we are concerned about the effect of rural tourism on locality and we are not sure that rural tourism is going to support or hinder sustainability. Through this study the research attempts to examine the impact of rural tourism on the economic sustainable development of host communities.

3. Objectives

1. To understand the effects of rural tourism on economic sustainability of host communities.

2. To identify the perception about sustainable tourism in host communities.

This study aims to identify the various economic factors and perception about sustainable tourism such as job opportunity, Demands for local products, Household income, Land and property, Technical assistance, Private Player’s investment, Inflation commodities, Leasing, Natural resource, Local heritage, Infrastructure facilities, Non- natives, Local residents and Quality of life to analysis the economic sustainability.

4. Hypothesis

Ho1: There is no association between residential status of respondents and impact of rural tourism on economic sustainability.

Ho2: There is no correlation between perception of respondents towards sustainable tourism and the Impact of rural tourism on economic sustainability.

IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 8 Issue 3, March 2021 ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2020) – 6.72 www.ijiset.com

5. Methodology of the Study

This is a descriptive study based on primary data and secondary data. The primary data was collected from 65 respondents using interview schedule and questionnaire. The respondents belonging to rural areas like Vagamon, Ilikal kallu, Kallar, Gavi, Parunthumpara; Kuttanad etc. A pilot study was conducted to validate the interview schedule. The secondary data used in the study was gathered from different books, National and International Journals, Government reports and different sites which emphasis on several phases of rural tourism. The collected data was analyzed using statistical and mathematical tools and techniques like percentages, mean ranking etc. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software was used during the process of data analysis. The results of analysis of data are presented in the form of tables.

6. Analysis and Discussions

The study made use of 65 samples and majority of the respondents were in the age group of 20-30 years (40.0%). Out of 65 respondents 33 respondents [50.8%] are male and 32 respondents [49.2%] are female. It shows that both categories of respondents are almost equal in the sample. In the case of home district, most of the respondents belong to neighboring districts of Idukki and Kottayam (36.9%). Out of 65 respondents the residential status of 22 respondents [33.8%] are 20-30 years.

Table 1: Mean and Rank of Economic Factors Sl.No Statements Mean Rank Tourism increases the job opportunity of people in the E1 4.55 1 host community Demands for local products, handicrafts & agricultural E2 products by tourists have benefitted the traditional 4.48 2 businesses E3 Rural tourism increases the household income 4.40 3 Rural tourism growth have resulted in high prices of land E4 4.38 4 and property Government is providing any funding or technical E5 assistance to generate economic benefits to the local 4.14 5 community from tourism Rural tourism has encouraged the private player’s E6 4.08 6 investment in the rural areas Flow of tourists has caused inflation of daily use items & E7 4.03 7 commodities for the locals Local people are not earning money by leasing their land E8 3.60 8 & property for tourism purpose. Source: Primary Data

The above table 1 shows the mean score of variables related with the impact of rural tourism on the economic sustainability. The mean score of variables-rural tourism increases the job opportunity of people in the host communities, increases the household income, increases the demands for local products, handicrafts and agricultural products and rural tourism growth have resulted in high prices for land and property lies between 4.38 and4.55. It indicates the high level of agreement of respondents towards these statements. Respondents also agreed that due to the rural tourism the job opportunity of people and household income has improved and rural tourism enrich the economy of society. At the same time, respondents agree that there are some negative impacts on the economic environment. They are; inflation of daily use items and commodities of the locals, rural tourism has encouraged the private player’s investment in the rural areas, a government providing funding or technical assistance does not generate economic benefits to the local community and local people are not earning money by leasing their land & property for tourism purpose. The mean score point out that positive impacts of rural tourism on economic aspects is more deep than negative impacts.

IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 8 Issue 3, March 2021 ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2020) – 6.72 www.ijiset.com

Table 2: Mean and Standard Deviation of Perception of Respondents towards Sustainable Tourism Sl.No Statements Standard Mean Deviation S1 Natural resource protection and tourism are compatible 4.23 .897 S2 Protection of local heritage and tourism are compatible 4.25 .771 Well managed attractions maintained in their natural state S3 4.48 .731 attract tourists Sustainable tourism improves the infrastructure facilities S4 4.29 .785 and its accessibility S5 Rural tourism is dominated by the non-natives 3.86 .899 Local residents are working in semi-skilled positions and S6 3.51 1.617 are not benefitted economically through tourism activities S7 Tourism assist the development of other sectors 4.18 .727 Rural tourism results in the improvement of quality of life S8 4.23 .897 of host community Source: Primary Data

The above table 2 shows the mean score of variables related with the perception of respondents towards sustainable tourism. The mean score of variables-sustainable tourism are compatible for natural resource protection and protection of local heritage, rural tourism result in the improvement of quality life of host community, improves the infrastructure facilities, Sustainable tourism adopt well managed attractions in their natural state to attract tourists lies between 4.23 and 4.29 It indicates the high level of perception of respondents towards these statements. Respondents also agreed that due to the sustainable tourism the infrastructure facilities of economy has improved and sustainable tourism maintained a well managed attractions of tourists At the same time, respondents agree that there is some negative perception towards sustainable tourism. They are; Tourism assist the development of other sectors, rural tourism is dominated by the non-natives and local residents are working in semi-skilled positions and are not benefitted economically through tourism activities. The mean score point out that positive perception towards sustainable tourism is more deep than negative perception. Standard deviation indicates that all the values are almost close to mean value.

In order to check whether there is any association between residential status of respondents and impact of rural tourism on economic sustainability, the following hypothesis is formulated and tested using the One-Way ANOVA test.

[H0]: There is no association between residential status of respondents and impact of rural tourism on economic sustainability. [H1]: There is association between residential status of respondents and impact of rural tourism on economic sustainability.

Table 3: One-Way ANOVA of Residential Status and Impact of Rural Tourism on Economic Sustainability Descriptive Statistics One - Way ANOVA N Mean Std. Deviation Residential Status Sum of Square F Sig. 2 4.2500 .88388 Between Groups 5.200 4.623 .003 Below 5 years Within Groups 16.871 5-10 years 4 4.7500 .33850 Total 22.071

10-20 years 16 4.3906 . 38154

20-30 years 22 3.8352 .70117

More than 30 years 21 4.3512 .40237

The above table 3 shows the result of one-way ANOVA on residential status and impact of rural tourism on the economic sustainability. Here the test statistic rejected the null hypothesis. Because, the value of F is 4.623 which reaches significance with a p value of .003(which is less than the .05 alpha level). So it can be concluded that there is association between residential status of respondents and the impact of rural tourism on the economic sustainability.

In order to check whether there is any correlation between perception of respondents towards sustainable tourism and the Impact of rural tourism on economic sustainability, the following hypothesis is formulated and tested using the Karl Pearson Correlation.

[H0]: There is no correlation between perception of respondents towards sustainable tourism and the Impact of rural tourism on economic sustainability.

[H1]: There is correlation between perception of respondents towards sustainable tourism and the impact of rural tourism on economic sustainability.

Table 4 Showing Correlation Between Two Variables AWARENESS IMPACT .517** Pearson Correlation 1 perception Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 65 65

Pearson Correlation .517** 1 IMPACT Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 65 65 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Source: Primary data

From the table 4 it can be understood that the Pearson’s Co-efficient of correlation is .517. The significance value [0.000] is less than the standard value [0.05]. When the significance value is less than 0.05, the null hypothesis [H0] stands rejected and the alternate hypothesis [H1] stands accepted. Therefore the indication from this hypothesis testing is that the two variables are positively correlated. The correlation which is 0.517 means there is strongly association between variables. It indicates that the level of perception of respondents towards sustainable tourism and impact of rural tourism on economic sustainability is positively correlated. In other words, the increase in the level of perception of respondents towards sustainable tourism will make more impact of rural tourism on economic sustainability.

7. FINDINGS

IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 8 Issue 3, March 2021 ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2020) – 6.72 www.ijiset.com belong to neighboring districts of Idukki and Kottayam (36.9%). Out of 65 respondents the residential status of 22 respondents [33.8%] are 20-30 years.

According to the opinion of respondents, Rural Tourism increases the job opportunity, demands for local products, increases the household income, and tourism growth have resulted in high prices of land and property. Respondents possess positive attitude towards the funding or technical assistance providing by government to generate economic benefits to the local community from tourism. This shows that rural tourism have positive attitude towards economic sustainability. In the case of perception towards sustainable tourism the respondents agreed that sustainable tourism improves the infrastructure facilities and quality of life of host communities. They also argued that protection of local heritage and tourism are compatible. Most of the respondents have neither agreed nor disagreed that Local residents are working in semi-skilled positions and are not benefitted economically through tourism activities.

The directions for future research are that, the study was conducted with a very small sample of 65 respondents in Kerala. Therefore, the future studies can include a large sample. This study is undertaken to assess the impact of rural tourism on the sustainable development on host communities. The study analyzed the impact of rural tourism in, economic sustainability and perception of host community towards sustainable tourism. But the study leaves a scope for conduct a research on model suggesting how sustainable tourism can be implemented in rural areas. 8. Conclusion

In this era sustainable development plays a major role in the development of our world. The rural tourism plays an important role in sustainable development. Rural tourism development is widely recognized as a tool for faster economic development particularly in the developing nation like India. This study was conducted to assess the impact of rural tourism in the sustainable development of host community by analyzing the effect of rural tourism on economic sustainability and perception of host community towards sustainable tourism. The study results revealed that tourism increases the job opportunity of people in the host community and increase demands for local products, handicrafts & agricultural products that makes a positive effect on economic sustainability and local people are not earning money by leasing their land & property for tourism purpose is negatively affect on economic sustainability. Well managed attractions maintained in their natural state attract tourists is the perception of host community towards sustainable tourism and Local residents are working in semi-skilled positions and are not benefitted economically through tourism activities is a negative perception of host community towards tourism. To ensure sustainable rural tourism there should be a mechanism from the part of State Tourism Development Corporations to ensure that DPIC (District Project Implementation Committee) are implementing projects that facilitate community participation in tourism and efforts should be taken to get the services of enterprises and non-governmental organizations fostering rural tourism like Grass roots, Rural Tourism Network Enterprises (RTNE), DHAN Foundation, Blue Yonder etc. In view of this Rural tourism should be considered in 10-Year Framework of programmes on Sustainable Consumptions and Production (10YFP) of UN One Planet Network Programme. This research and its results and suggestion would be a great benefit to the government and other organization to promote sustainable development of host community through rural tourism. This study will help government to convert the huge investment in sustainable rural tourism expenditure to profit.

9. Acknowledgment

First of all, words are inadequate to express my whole hearted thankfulness to God Almighty, the source of all wisdom and power for leading me kindly in each and every association of this project and endeavor. I proudly utilize this opportunity to express my thanks and sincere gratitude to our esteemed guide, Ms.Misheal Tomy, (Assistant Professor, Research & PG Department of Commerce),Marian College Kuttikkanam (Autonomous) , without whose valuable guidance and encouragement, it would not have been possible for me to bring out the project. I am obliged to express my thanks to all the Teachers of Research & PG Department of Commerce, Marian College Kuttikkanam (Autonomous) for their valuable suggestions and help during this research paper work. I feel proud to record my gratitude to my parents and friends for their love, prayers, caring and keen interest shown to complete this paper.

IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 8 Issue 3, March 2021 ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2020) – 6.72 www.ijiset.com

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First author: Completed B.com from ST.George College Aruvithura and currently pursuing M.com in Research & P.G Department of Commerce, Marian College Kuttikkanam (Autonomous). Presented Paper in various national and international presentations. Presented Paper at International Conference: AVICD-ARC2020 Male Maldives.

Second author: Completed B.com and M.com from Marian College Kuttikkanam (Autonomous) and now act as Assistant Professor in Marian College Kuttikkanam (Autonomous).